Swanton Berry Farm was founded in 1983 by Jim Cochran. At that time, no one had grown strawberries organically on a commercially successful basis. The general consensus in the industry said it couldn’t be done. Five years later, Swanton Berry Farm would become the first certified organic strawberry farm in California (CCOF).

Just as the process of organic certification formalizes Swanton Berry Farm’s commitment to a set of ethics in our farming practices, a Union contract similarly formalizes our commitment to the human side of the farming equation. The fundamental question that drives this duality is why treat your food with a set of standards but not those who plant and harvest that same food?

In 1998, Swanton Berry Farm became the first organic farm in America to sign a contract with the United Farm Workers, AFL-CIO.